Submodulation systems for carrier recreation and doppler correction in single-sideband zero-carrier communications



July 4, T967 P. HOLDER I 3,329,899

SUBMODULATION SYSTEMS FOR CARRIER RECREATION AND DOPPLER CORRECTION IN SINGLE-SIDEBAND ZERO-CARRIER COMMUNICATIONS Filed May 8, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet l July 4, 1967 F. P. HOLDER 3,329,899

SUBMODULATION SYSTEMS FOR CARRIER RECREATION AND DOPPLER CORRECTION IN SINGLE-SIDEBAND ZERO-CARRER COMMUNICATIONS Filed May 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 `luly 4, 1967 F. P. HOLDER 3,329,899

SUBMODULATION SYSTEMS FOR CARRIER RECREATION AND DOPPLER CORRECTION IN SINGLE-SIDEBAND ZERO-CARRIER COMMUNICATIONS Filed May 8, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Eig- INVENTOR. A A /Y0 06,?

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`Fuly 4, 1967 F. P. HOLDER 3,329,899

SUBMODULATION SYSTEMS FOR CARRIER RECREATION AND DOPPLER CORRECTION IN SINGLE-SIDEBAND ZERO-CARRIER COMMUNICATIONS Filed May a, 1964 5 sheets-sheet 4 w/o e- 619Mo M/xfe BY MM July 4, 1967 Filed May 8, 1964 ZERO CARRIER COMMUNI CATIONS Kfz-fa Sylva/hea /voas M/XFR 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fe: p afa/cy Maar/Pauze XM) L OCH( DFTCTR ffii INVENTOR.

El? HLD E @fmP/V United States Patent Office 3,329,899 Patented July 4, 1967 SUBMODULATION SSTEMS FOR CARRIER RE- CREATION AND DOPPLER CORRECTIUN IN SINGLE-SIDEBAND ZERO-CARRIER COMMUNI- CATIONS Floyd P. Holder, Marietta Ga., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force Original application Jan. 6, 1961, Ser. No. 81,205, now Patent No. 3,182,259, dated May 4, 1965. Divided and this application May 8 1964, Ser. No. 366,206

1 Claim. (Cl. S25-329) This application is -a division of my application Ser. No. 81,205, filed Ian. 6, 1961, now Patent No. 3,182,259.

In the interest of interference reduction and bandconservation, consider-able attention has been given to the use of single-sideband zero-carrier transmission. In order to perform satisfactory detection of the signals used in this type of transmission, it is necessary to supply the missing carrier at the receiver. In the case of a single-sideband system utilizing only stationary or slowly moving transmitters and receivers, the missing carrier may be synthesized, iat a frequency which is roughly correct, by the operator manually tuning a variable-frequency local oscillator until, in his judgment, the receiver output sounds right. Another method of synthesizing the carrier in a system involving only stationary or slowly moving stations is to use, at the receiver, a local oscillator having its frequency automatically set within close tolerance to the transmitter frequency according to prior knowledge of this frequency. Where there is no prior knowledge, this method fails. Even when there is prior knowledge, the synthesized carrier frequency must be correct to within yabout 20 cycles for intelligible reception of a voice transmission. However, in the case of a single-sideband zero-carrier (SSZC) system utilizing high-frequency receivers and transmitters that are rapidly moving with respect to each other so that Doppler effect is pronounced, the foregoing methods of detection fail because of the inability to determine accurately the frequency position of the missing carrier. e

Several means are available to overcome this difficulty, but most of these effectively require the transmission of a carrier component which is used `at the receiver to re-establish the frequency of the missing carrier, Consequently, such systems are not true zero-carrier systems; hence they are susceptible to the heterodyne type of interference. It is possible, however, to transmit information about the frequency of the missing carrier without transmitting any component at the carrier frequency, so that the difficulty of the previ-v ously mentioned heterodyne interference is overcome. This lack of heterodyne interference is due to the fact that the frequency `at which the carrier information is transmitted depends on the frequency of the modulating sign-al. In the case of modulation by a speech wave, the frequency of the transmitted carrier information is rapidly changing in a very erratic manner, with the res-ult that no whistles or steady tones `are produced-l The method described here is called the submodulation method. It involves a form of dupleXing and makes use of a constant-level modulation system such as the one described by Marcou and Daguetin a paper entitled, New Methods of Speech Transmission, in the publication of Centre National dEtudes des Telecommunications, Sept. 15, 1955. The intelligence to be transmitted is used to modulate a constant-level single-sidebanc zero-carrier transmitter as in the above paper. However before the constant-level signal is radiated, it is amplitude-modulated by a low-frequency sine wave which it at some integral submultiple of the missing-carrier frequency. Thus, the phase and frequency variations of the transmitted signal carry the intelligence, and the 4amplitude variations contain the information about the frequency of the missing carrier. At the receiver the signal is channeled into two paths. In the first path the envelope is recovered in a conventional envelope detector, the detected output being a Sine wave the frequency of which is at -an integral submultiple of the carrier frequency. This wave is then fed to a frequency multiplier, the output of which is precisely at the Doppler-corrected frequency of the missing carrier. Ir the second path, the incoming signal is amplitude-limitecl to remove all modulation due to the presence of thc carrier information. The output of the limiter is then the original constant-level single-sideband zero-carrier signal that was formed at the transmitter. This signal ma; now be detected by use of the carrier generated in the previously described first path.

The submodulation method of recovering the missing carrier and correcting for Doppler shift in a SSZC system is so called because the intelligence sideband-spectrum components serve as carriers for the actual carrier information transmitted. The brief outline -of this method given above primarily applies to 4a relatively elementarry system. However, a number of variations have been devised 4and culminate in a refined version which offers the advantages of highly stable superheterodyne receptior and permits the effective Ibandwidth of the receiver tc be limited to almost exactly that of a constant-level SSZC signal as generated. The only bandwidth discrepancy which must be allowed for in the refined systerr is the extremely small bandwidth change caused by the Doppler effect.

A detaileddiscussion of specific embodiments of the various forms of the invention will be given with reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIGS. 1 and 2 show the transmitter and receiver for the basic submodulation system,

FIG. 3 shows a form of superheterodyne receiver that may be used in the submodulation system,

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the transmitter and receiver usable in a modied form of the submodulation system giving greater I-F selectivity.

FIG. 6 shows a superheterodyne receiver for use with a transmitter of the type shown in FIG. 1 but giving improved performance over the receiver of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 7 shows a simplification of FIG. 6 resulting from letting p: l.

Referring to FIG. l, which shows the transmitter for the basic system, the constant-level-modulated singlesideband radio frequency exciter 1 produces a single sideband signal fc-l-fm of constant level, assuming upper sideband transmission. The exciter 1 may be of the type described in the above-mentioned paper by Marcou and Daguet, its design not being a part of the invention. The carrier fc is obtained by a multiplication, in frequency multiplier 2, of the output of oscillator 3. The frequency of oscillator 3 is also divided by a factor s, in frequency divider 4, and the resulting frequency fc/rs is applied to amplitude modulator 5 which amplitude modulates `the output of final R-F amplifier 6. Since r and s are integers, the amplitude modulation of the amplifier 6 output is at 1 integral submultiple n=rs of the carrier frequency fc. he output of amplifier e therefore contains -the constant ivel sideband fc-i-fm and the upper and lower sidebands :sulting from the amplitude modulation of this sideand by the signal fc/n, namely,

fc+fm+ and fen-fi Assume that the modulation factor of this sinusoidal lodulation is appreciably less than unity--for example, 5 percent. If the intelligence should consist of a single me, then the radiated spectrum would be exactly that fan ordinary sine-wave-modulated full-carrier A-M wave :ing modulated to a depth of 25 percent, In this case, ll the energy of the sinusoidal modulation will be conantrated at the two frequencies spaced symmetrically `Jout the intelligence tone frequency. However, where le intelligence is complex, as it ordinarily is, the symletrical sub-sidetones exist about each intelligence spec- 'al element and the submodulation energy is distributed ver the entire sideband. Consequently, these pairs of subdetones may be thought of as being first at one pair of 'equencies, then at another. Because of the complex nd constantly changing nature of the intelligence wave rhich now is serving as a carrier, the pairs of symmetrical Jb-sidetones are also constantly changing in amplitude nd frequency and hence will not cause the heterodyne tpe of interference, for the same reason that an ordinary ngle-side'band zero-carrier transmission does not.

In the receiver, shown in FIG. 2, the composite signal, 'hich may have undergone a change in frequency by a ictor k due lt-o the Doppler effect, is handled in the usual ianner by the amplification and the selectivity of the .-F amplifier 7. The total maximum bandwidth needed accommodate the incoming R-F wave usually need not e much greater than the maximum bandwidth of the ngle sideband Without the submodulation. In fact, the xcess bandwidth will be just twice the submodulation 'equency. After R-F amplification, the composite signal fed into two channels. In one of these channels the amposite signal is amplitude-limited by limiter 8 to :move the amplitude modulation. No energy correspond- 1g to the submodulation will remain as phase modulaon if the sub-sidebands have been maintained actually vvmmetrical and if no phase modulation has been periitted to occur in the transmitter in the submodulation rocess. After limiting, the wave will be back to the inial constant-level-modulated form except that all its comonents may have been translated in frequency by some ommon and perhaps varying percentage because of the )oppler effect.

The signal in the second channel is detected in an rdinary diode detector 9 and the sinusoid correspond- 1g to the amplitude modulation is recovered. On the ssumption, for the moment, that the frequency of this :covered low-frequency sinusoid has been shifted, beause of Doppler effect, by the same common percentage s have the components of the composite R-F wave, it is lear that the sinusoid may be subjected to a succession f multiplications and filtrations to the point at which 1e missing-carrier frequency, shifted by Doppler by the ame percentage as the intelligence components in the rst branch channel, is reached. This is accomplished by iultiplier 10. The resulting wave at this final frequency ien becomes the re-created carrier which is necessary to etect the signal at the output of the limiter. This de- :ction is accomplished by single sideband detector 1I.

It remains to be shown only that the frequeny of the etected sinusoid, before multiplication, has been Dopp- :r-shifted from the original submodulation frequency y the same percentage as have the R-F components of ne constant-level-modulation wave present at the output f the first channel. For this purpose let the following e the frequencies, at the output terminals of the transd mitter, present in the composite wave when the intelligence to be conveyed consists of but a single tone.

fo: initial frequency of lche missing carrier, ffm=initial frequency of the sideband element corresponding to the tone being conveyed (upper-sideband transmission being assumed),

fc lflu-j :initial frequency of the lower sub-sidetone,

fo -l-fm+'c=initial frequency of the upper sub-sidetone,

where n is the integral ratio of the initial frequency of the missing carrier to the initial frequency of the amplitude-modulating sine wave. At the receiver the corresponding frequencies, having been changed percentagewise by Doppler effect, may be expressed as rfc. k f..+fm ICQs-Le and k f+fm+ respectively. With the kfc component missing, the spectrum will be that of a carrier, at the frequency MfG-Hm), which has been modulated by a sine wave of frequency This is the frequency of the sinusoid which is recovered by envelope detection in the second channel discussed above. When this frequency is multiplied by the integral number n, the result is kfc, exactly the frequency of the missing carrier needed in the first channel. It is thus seen that the only prior knowledge needed at the receiver is that of the proper multiplication factor, n, and this factor can be prearranged or standarized.

It may be desired to employ a superheterodyne principle in the receiver rather than to convert the incoming signal directly from radio frequencies to audio by means such as synchronous detection. A receiver operating on this principle is shown in FIG. 3. This system permits use of exactly the same transmitter as before and allows a synthesized carrier of lthe exact frequency of the missing Doppler-shifted carrier to be established at the receiver, Doppler shift having been automatically corrected for. It should be emphasized that the receiver to be discussed now, as well as the one discussed just previously, could be used Simultaneously to receive a signal from the same transmit-ter, the frequency of the synthesizedv carrier in the receiver being precisely that needed in both cases.

Assume in FIG. 3 that the received signal corresponds to an original intelligence modulation consisting of a single tone, and in addition, assume t-hat the signal has amplitude modulation corresponding to the carrier submultiple. As before, let the frequencies of these, after modification by Doppler shift, be

where k is the ratio of the frequency after Doppler shift to the corresponding frequency at the transmitting antenna. Again the missing-carrier frequency, as received, is kfc.

Now, following the R-F selectivity and amplification in the receiver, these components go to a conventional mixer 12 being fed by a local oscillator 13 of frequency fo. The resulting intermediate frequencies are, respectively,

Thus, the components make up the spectrum of an intermediate-frequency carrier, of frequency k(fc-Ifm) *fw being amplitude modulated by a sinusoid of frequency The converted signal may now Ibe amplified in an I-F amplifier 14 Ihaving a bandwidth sufficient to pass the originally transmitted signal plus the Doppler shift plus the sidebands due to amplitude modulation plus any frequency error.

After the I-F amplification, the composite signal is fed into two channels. In the first of these channels the composite signal isamplitude-limited in limiter 8 to remove all the ampl-itude modulation. The signal then goes to a single-sideband detector 11 (or to other types of detectors, such as an adder followed by a conventional detector) where the simultaneous input of a synthesized I-F carrier, obtained as described below, permits the constant-level audio to be recovered.

In the second channel the I-F signal passes to an envelope detector 9 where the amplitude-modulation frequency modified by Doppler shift, is recovered. This frequency is then multiplied by the factor n in multiplier 10. The signal at the resulting frequency, kfc (which is the Doppler-shifted radio frequency of the missing carrier), next goes to a mixer 15 where it is mixed with a signal from the same local oscillator 13 -used in the original frequency conversion of the composite signal. From the output of this second mixer a component at the frequency kfc-fo is obtained. This is the synthesized I-F carrier needed for detection.

It is seen, as before, that for this receiver the only prior knowledge needed at the receiver is that of the proper multiplication factor, n, and this factor can be prearranged or standardized.

The system next to be described offers a performance improvement over the system just discussed, since greater overall -I-F lselectivity than before may be employed. This is true because of a reduction in the excess bandwidth needed to accommodate the Doppler-shifted signal in the latter I-F selective circuits. How important the improvement will be depends largely upon how great is the absolute Doppler shift in the R-F received wave compared to the total I-F bandwidth which would be required if no Doppler shift existed. Certainly, there are possible cases for wfhich the Doppler effect on the I-F bandwidth required is not negligible.

It will be realized, however, that the improvement which this system offers -is obtained at the expense of some increase in the complexity of both the transmitter and the receiver. Also, the transmitters and the receivers, respectively, are not interchangeable between this system and the previous ones.

The transmitter of the present system, shown in FIG. 4, differs from that of the previously mentioned systems only in that the amplitude modulation is altered. In the present system two amplitude-modulating tones are used, the frequencies of the two being where n and N are integers, fc is the frequency of the untransmitted carrier, and fo is one-kth the frequency required of a local oscillator to be synchronized in the receiver. Here, again k accounts for Doppler shift and is the ratio of the apparent frequency of a given signal component at the receiver, to the frequency of the same component at the transmitter.

A block diagram of the receiver is shown in FIGURE 5. Here, as before, an envelope detector 9 is used to recover the A-M tones. These two tones can be separated by filters 15 and 16 and the frequency of each can be multiplied .by the appropriate factor as shown in multipliers 17 and 18. The frequencies after multiplicatior will be kfo and MfG-fo). These components may novi be used to synchronize the locked oscillators 19 and 20, or each locked oscillator may, by locking on a submultiple of its output frequency, serve as the final stage of frequency multiplication. Oscillator 19-the one feeding the mixer-is essential, while the other may be dispensed with if the output from the (xN) frequency multiplier is already relatively constant in amplitude with variations of signal strength at the receiver.

Now, consider an incoming signal corresponding tc intelligence transmitted with an initial frequency of fc-l-fm. The received frequency will be MfG-Hm), as compared to the frequency, kfc, of the missing carrier reference to the receiver. In the mixer 12 the components of the signal and the local oscillator 19, at frequencies k(fc|-fm) and kfo respectively, produce a resultant at frequency k(fc|fm-fo). In the single-sideband detector 11 the product of the foregoing resultant with the output from the second synchronized oscillator 20 (or its equivalent), at the frequency MfG-fo), gives a component at the difference frequency, kfm. Thus, the original intelligence is recovered, modified only by the factor k. Since k differs from unity by an exceedingly small percentage, the total error in the recovered audio is almost certain to lbe negligible.

The system to be discussed next and illustrated in FIG. 6 has the following features. The tran-smitter is the same as that illustrated by FIG. l and hence permits a -choice of types of receivers to be used. Because only single-frequency amplitude modulation is needed, this transmitter is simpler than the one shown in FIG. 4.

The receiver is of a superheterodyne type. The overall I-F bandwidth can be made the same as that required for a constant-level-modulated single-sideband signal undergoing very little Doppler shift and bearing no amplitude modulation. Hence, essentially all the advantages of using the constant-level-modulated single-sideband prin- -ciple are retained.

The receivers previously described best employ true single-sideband detectorsi.e., detectors which will detect only one sideband-if maximum advantage is to be taken of the single-sideband principle. In the case of the receiver of present interest, however, at the output of the I-F amplifier the frequency of the I-F missing carrier is constant. Consequently, if is feasible to use a highly selective passive filter, having constant characteristics of which the edge of the pass band coincides with the frequency of the missing carrier, It will be shown that this missing-carrier frequency is translated to exactly that of a local oscillator, or some integral, or some integral multiple or submultiple thereof. If desired, the I-F signal can be moved about with respect to the filter pass band simply by a change in the local-oscillator frequency. Therefore, a given bandpass filter can be used and either the upper or the lower sideband can be selected by 'changing the local-oscillator frequency to correspond to the lower or the upper edge, respectively, of the filter pass band. If the passive filter is used, it is necessary only to add the synthetic carrier to the signal to permit detection by ordinary means, as, for instance, by a diode detector. Hence, the use of the polyphase type of singlesideband detector, may be avoided without detriment. The ordinary simple detector can be used with the other systems also, but not as advantageously.

The operation of the receiver can be understood with the aid of FIGURE 6. The signal, after passing through the R-F amplifier, is mixed with the output from a locked oscillator 21 which is synchronized to an output frequency of kfc-fo. The manner of synchronization will be explained shortly. At 'the moment, however, it can be seen that the difference frequencies at the output of the first mixer 22 are fo for the missing carrier and 7 ,-l-kfm for each intelligence element (the transmission f the upper sideband being assumed). Also each intelgence element will have centered about it a pair of the mplitude-modulation sidetones at the frequencies ffl-Muff? and mmm-% he signal from the first mixer passes to an I-F amplifier 3. This amplifier must have a bandwidth great enough 3 pass the intelligence sideband (which has been spread ery slightly by the Doppler effect), plus the two ampli- Jde-modulation sidetones, plus the error in the frequency osition of the I-F signal before locking of the synchroized oscillator, plus the tolerances and/or drift errors `f the I-F amplifier itself.

The output of the wide-band I-F amplifier goes to a rst and a second channel, as before. Once the synchroized oscillator is locked, the components of the output if the wideband I-F amplifier will have the specific freuencies shown just above.

In the first channel the limiter 8 removes the amlitude modulation and hence, in effect, narrows the band /hich must be passed by the narrow-band I-F amplifier 4 which follows, so that its required width is that of he original modulating wave multiplied in frequency by he factor k to account for the Doppler effect. The value lf k is ordinarily so very close to unity that its effect 1 altering the bandwidth is extremely small. When the ransmitted intelligence is speech, this effect by any value f k likely to be encountered in the near future is almost ertain to be negligible.

As has already been pointed out, a single-sideband etector may be used following the narrow-band I-F `mplifier. However, with suitable filtration incorporated nto the amplifier, and with the synthesized carrier first dded into the signal coming from the amplifier-filter, ,lmost any A-M detector 11 may be used, without detrinent, to recover the audio or other modulation.

Where the output of the wide-band I-F amplifier is ed into the second channel, this I-F output goes first o an envelope detector 9. Here the Doppler-shifted nth ubmultiple of the missing-carrier frequency is recovered, he frequency of this recovered wave being It being assumed that n, p and n/ p are all integers, the submultiple is next subjected to frequency multiplication by the factor n/p in multiplier 2S. The resulting frequenc'y,

is than mixed in mixer 26 with the local oscillator 27 frequency, fo/ p, to produce the difference frequency This frequency is multiplied by p in multiplier 28 to become [cfs-fo, which is the frequency of the component that is mixed with the incoming signal wave in the first mixer.

Another frequency multiplier 29, also of factor p, multiplies the frequency of the local oscillator from fo/ p to fo, this being the frequency of the synthetic carrier needed at the final detector.

It is important to note that p may well be made unity. If so, the two xp multipliers shown in FIG. 6 are no longer needed and all necessary multiplication is done in the one multiplier 25 as illustrated in FIG. 7.

I claim:

A receiver for a single-sideband zero-carrier signal amplitude modulated at a submultiple of the carrier frequency, comprising: a first mixer, a synchronous oscillator, means for applying the received signal and the output of said synchronous oscillator to said first mixer, an envelope detector, means for applying the output of said first mixer to said envelope detector, a frequency multiplier having a multiplying factor equal to the ratio of said carrier frequency to said submultiple frequency, means for applying the output of said envelope detector to said frequency multiplier, a second mixer, a local oscillator, means for applying the outputs of said frequency multiplier and said local oscillator to said second mixer, means for applying the output of said second mixer as a synchronizing signal to said synchronous oscillator, an amplitude limiter, means for applyingthe output of said first mixer to said limiter, a detector, and means for applying the outputs of said limiter and said local oscillator to the last named detector.

No references cited.

KATHLEEN H. CLAFFY, Primary Examiner.

R. S. BELL, Assistant Examiner. 

